The Fonte Grande of Morro de São Paulo () is a Baroque-style

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

on Tinharé Island,

Cairu Cairu is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. The municipality consists of three islands: the Island of Cairu, which is only separated from the mainland by a narrow river; Tinharé Island, which has the dens ...

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It dates to 1746 and was constructed by , viceroy of Brazil, to supply water to a prison, soldiers, and residents. The fountain is located to the southeast of the settlement of Morro de São Paulo, and was the most advanced water supply system in colonial Brazil. It was listed as a historic structure by the

National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage The National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (, IPHAN) is a heritage register of the federal government of Brazil. It is responsible for the preservation of buildings, monuments, structures, objects and sites, as well as the register an ...

in 1943.

History

André de Melo e Castro André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal, ...

(1668-1753), viceroy of Brazil, built the three-spouted fountain to serve a local prison, soldiers on the Island of Tinharé, and resident. The fountain may have been built on the site of a smaller, earlier fountain discovered by Simao Barreto in the 17th century as part of the construction of Church of Our Lady of Luz (''Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz'').

Dom Pedro II ''Don (honorific), Dom'' PedroII (Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga; 2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed the Magnanimous (), was the List o ...

, during a tour of Morro de Sao Paulo in 1859, recorded the existence of "a public fountain with three spouts." Illegal excavations were made at the fountain in 1933 and 1946 in search of buried treasures; both excavations caused damage to the structure. The quality of water in the fountain has deteriorated due to the strain of large-scale tourism on the water and sanitation system of Morro de Sao Paulo.

Location

The fountain is located at the southeast of the small settlement of Morro de São Paulo. The fountain is located below the street level and is accessible by stairs.

Structure

The Fonte Grande of Morro de São Paulo has a rectangular plan with a vault. It consists of a feed stream; a vaulted adduction gallery; a circular cistern covered by a brick, tiled dome in the shape of a half-orange; a wastewater

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

; an iron

chute Chute or Chutes, may refer to: * Chute (gravity), a channel down which falling materials are guided * Chute (landform), a steep-sided passage through which water flows rapidly * Escape chute, an emergency exit utilized where conventional fire esca ...

; stairs, and a drainage system. The fountain is accessed by a staircase with gray and white marble flooring. Its frontispiece is of Bahian sandstone. It is crowned by a baroque pediment with

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an ...

s and a diamond-shaped pinnacle. A

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

is at center with an inscription reading:

"The Most Illustrious and Honorable André de Melo de Castro, Count of Galveas Virei and Captain General of the Sea and Land of the State of Brazil had this font made 1746."

IPHAN performed basic conservation works on the fountain in 1946 and 1954. It was fully restored in approximately 1970 under the direction of the architect Anísio Luz.

Protected status

The Fonte Grande of Morro de São Paulo was listed as a historic structure by the

in 1943.

Footnote

:A..

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite journal, last1=Corrêa, first1=Maria de Fátima Pires Ferreira, title=Turismo em Morro de São Paulo : uma análise dos impactos, year=2006, location=Brasília , publisher=Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Excelência em Turismo, doi=10.26512/2006.03.TCC.578, page=33, doi-access=free {{cite journal, last1=Gonçalves, first1=Willian José, title=Turismo (in)sustentável em Morro de São Paulo, Bahia : existe turismo sustentável em Morro de São Paulo?, year=2004, location=Brasília , publisher=Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Excelência em Turismo, doi=10.26512/2004.02.TCC.990, doi-access=free {{cite book , last=Secretaria da Indústria, Comércio e Turismo (Bahia, Brazil) , title=IPAC-BA: inventário de proteção do acervo cultural , edition=3 , volume = 5 , location=Salvador, Brazil , publisher=Secretaria da Indústria e Comércio , year=1997 , pages=61–62 {{cite web , url=http://patrimonio.ipac.ba.gov.br/municipio/cairu/ , title=Fonte Grande do Morro de São Paulo , language=pt , publisher=Patrimônio Cultural da Bahia , date=2019 , accessdate=2019-12-20 , archive-date=2019-12-20 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220180321/http://patrimonio.ipac.ba.gov.br/municipio/cairu/ , url-status=dead Buildings and structures in Bahia Fountains in Brazil Portuguese colonial architecture in Brazil National heritage sites of Bahia 1740s establishments in the Portuguese Empire